Sunday, August 18, 2013

Learning Japanese: Part 1 / ?

I suppose this entry series will be more of a progress tracker, so I can look back at any point during my studies and kind of see how far I've come and where I've come from.

When I was younger, I liked the series Ranma 1/2 a lot. I watched most of it in English, and we bought the movie after watching the series. One day, Mom went to take a nap-- normal, she worked night-shift-- and I popped in the Ranma 1/2 movie. I was watching it like usual until there came a scene that was a little too quiet. I grabbed the remote control and attempted to increase the volume. Accidentally, I hit a button, and the movie switched to Japanese. I couldn't understand a word the characters were saying, but they sounded much different than they usually did. I couldn't figure out how to change it back to English, and was often scolded for tampering with electronics and tampering with settings, so I gave up and watched it in Japanese with English subtitles.

At the end of 5th grade, our teacher made us do one last homework assignment, which really wasn't an assignment at all. It was a paper titled "How I see myself in 8 years". Most people put down things like "football player" or "singer/dancer/movie actor/stripper". I was very specific: "I want to translate things like games and movies into English from Japanese."

Grandma was really supportive of me learning the language. I told her many times I wanted to go to Japan. I didn't realise just how significant it was back then, but she even started a bank account titled, "The Japan Fund" and told me she would put some money aside so I can go when I'm older. She told me to write on it in Japanese, so I just wrote "Nihon" on the front. Every weekend, we'd go to the bank and I'd flop the checkbook on the banker's counter so she could put money in it. Grandma would excitedly tell me to look at how much was in it after the money was deposited, but I didn't really understand money back then.

I was ten or elven when Grandma emptied out the spare bedroom next to mine (previously used to store all 10,390,813,890,138 of my toys) and told me we could make it into "The Japanese Room". She would go to rummage sales and find things that looked remotely Japanese and put them in the room. Tatami mats, wall scrolls written in Chinese (not her fault she couldn't differentiate Japanese from Chinese), a kimono, bamboo plant, wall fan, geisha statues, paper lanterns... She really let me go wild in decorating that room. It was a thrill everytime we found a new item for it. Grandma died when I was 13, and when she died, I sat in that room for a long time. It is now being used as a storage room, and somewhere under the mass that sits on top of it, it still exists.

Now, I've started again. A few weeks ago, I saw Wolverine with some friends, and there were some parts in which the supporting characters would speak Japanese, but the movie didn't subtitle it in English. My friends said, "What the heck are they saying?" and so I started to translate for them.I downloaded a game I've had my eye on for a few months now, and I'm translating that, too. It's hard to understand what is going on, and that is why I play the game. It's a visual novel, so being able to read, listen, and comprehend the material well enough to make a decision is vital to playing the game. After a few bad endings, I've been able to navigate through the story without getting my character killed or failing objectives. I feel really bad for the main character-- his life literally depends on me understanding Japanese. And for that, I'm deeply sorry. 6( ^_^;)

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Movie Review: The Purge



Just by looking at the movie poster, it looks terribly frightening, like a horror movie. However, the only horror you'll find in this movie is the dreadfully slow plot as well as the painfully uncooperative characters. An action-y suspense / thriller, this movie has its ups and downs, as well as some... well... to say at the least, I believe it could have been written a little better than it was.

The story takes place in the year 2022. Some time ago, the US Government designated one day out of the entire year-- each year-- for a nationwide event called "The Purge" (go figure). The Purge is a time frame of exactly 12 hours-- no more, no less-- in which any person may commit any crime without consequence. It is described as a way of purifying souls, releasing pent-up stress, and as it has been stated many times throughout the movie: it works; annual crime is at an all-time low, unemployment is down to a mere 1%, and the economy is flourishing. In fact, most people are in support of The Purge.



We have a mother (Mary), a father (James), a creepy son (Charlie), and a overly-dramatic teenage daughter (Zoey)... Your average setup for a movie. This family supports The purge, but very much unlike the rest of the population, chooses to not partake in The Purge, itself. The father works for a company that specialises in home security devices. The moment The Purge begins, he pushes a few red buttons and every door and window is covered by a thick, protective wall. Cameras are set up all over the house and the yard. They are essentially locked in, and that is the way they want it. ...Or at least, that's how James and Mary like it. The son, Charlie, is secretly a huge fan of The Purge, and has a hidden room covered with his fan art. Zoey is unavailable for comment, but she's probably in her room, blasting angsty music into her eardrums  because she hates everyone and everything.

A few hours into the event, Charlies watches as a man guy begs for help on one of the cameras. The man is screaming in the middle of the street, claiming he is innocent and he is being chased by people who want to kill him. You gather at this point that Charlie is pretty much retarded (figuratively), so he disarms the house and opens the doors to let the man in. The parents freak out and go upstairs to see some strange, raggedy man standing in their doorway. At this point, you don't know if the man is truly an innocent victim of The Purge, and neither does the family. The man makes a run for the inside of the house.


Aside from the mysterious man hiding somewhere in the house and Zoey's boyfriend being dead and whatnot, the house is pretty much safe and sound, right? Wrong. Charlie watches the video cameras just as a group of people start heading to their doorstep. Trick or treat! According to the ringleader of this mask-wearing mob, the homeless man the family is currently sheltering is homeless, and killed one of their members while they tried to kill him during the purge. They would very much like for the family to please hand him over--alive-- so they can finish the job. They don't state how long the family has to turn him over, but warn they do have supplies with the tools necessary to take down the house. He simply snaps his fingers, says "Okay, cut them now", and all the power in the house goes down.



Long story short, we follow the family as they try to hand over the man, but the man puts up a struggle. At one point, he even has Zoey at gunpoint. After a few hours, the passive-aggressive group announces over loudspeaker that time is up. A semi is used to tear down the entire side of the house, thus letting about 10-15 bloodthirsty participants enter the Sanders' "safe and secure" home.

I won't even bother to put up how it ends. Normally, I don't spoil a movie because it's a great movie, and I hate to ruin a good movie. However, I'm not spoiling this movie because the ending was so disappointing. Good, I guess, but disappointing. If you're still interested in seeing this movie, bless your heart.

Would I recommend seeing it?
I want my $1.75 back.

Would I see it again?
Nope.

My final thoughts: The writers had a great idea to begin with: 12 hours in which you can commit any crime you want and not face consequences? Awesome! But then, they stick us inside a house and force us to stay inside and watch as stupid characters do stupid things. You never see outside the house except maybe the street on the surveillance cameras set up in the house. As a result, the setting is a bit claustrophobic. Also, I know you're not supposed to like the antagonist, but I have never hated a character so much in my life. I need to stop here, because just thinking about that man... UGH.

I think the movie could've had great potential if we were instead put in the shoes of someone who is participating in The Purge. While he's out breaking ribs and smashing skulls of people who have done him wrong,  other bloodthirsty participants are hot on his trail as well. Like.. An ex-girlfriend out for revenge, or a jealous business partner from his past. My point is, take this great 12-hour crime spree concept and turn it into action! Adventure! Excitement! SOMETHING.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Movie Review: This is the End

Two movie nights in a row? Preposterous! I was invited out to the theatre to see another movie tonight. Movie of choice? This is the End, directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan. When you take a look at the cast, you can tell right off the bat exactly what kind of movie we're dealing with, here. This review may contain spoilers, but nothing so major as to ruin the ending.


Two of my friends went to see the movie the previous day, and claimed to like it so much, they really didn't mind seeing it again. I asked, "Who stars in this movie?" More like, "Who doesn't star in this movie?" You have Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson (!?), Rihanna... And that's just to name a few. Every celebrity plays themself in this flick.

The movie starts with Seth Rogan and Jay Baruchel-- who, no surprise, are great friends in real life-- meeting up at Seth's sweet new home. They get higher than kites while watching TV in the living room (it's a Seth Rogan movie, can't say you didn't see it coming) and Seth tries to convince Jay to join him at his good friend James's house for a killer party. Jay boldly states he does not want to go; he just wants sit back and catch up Seth. After some of Seth's coaxing, Jay finally caves and they're on their merry way to James Franco's party.
 A couple drinks / joints later, Seth and Jay are welcomed by James Franco and Jonah Hill. Seth couldn't be happier to see them, but Jay is passive-aggressive the entire time he's there. Jonah is an extremely nice fellow who tries to see the good in everyone. James is an extremely popular man with a house full of expensive art collections. Jay just wants to go home. He asks Seth to go with him to pick up a pack of smokes, and they excuse themselves from the party.

While debating what to buy, Seth observes a shrewd gas station clerk tell a little girl and her father they can't use the restroom without buying something. Just as Jay is about to check out, a giant car crashes through the window and smashes the attendant like a tomato. Outside, people are running and screaming, vehicles are crashing and swerving in a manner similar to that of Chicago's everyday traffic, and giant blue rays of light are abducting people and sucking them into the sky. Seth and Jay run back to James's house and the party is still going; no one is aware of the havoc that lies outside. When Seth and Jay try to explain what they saw, everyone dismisses them as being too doped-out to think straight. However, an earthquake sends everyone running for their life, and Michael Cera is the first to die (yup), courtesy of a falling telephone pole impaling him through the stomach. He is then sucked into a giant hole in the ground that leads to the molten depths of hell. Everyone in the party is sucked into it, minus our four main characters.


From here on out, the story revolves around Jay Jonas, Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson, as they try to survive in James's house. Food and water quickly becomes sparse, Jay's reluctancy to cooperate rises as he didn't want to even go to the party in the first place, and something large and menacing (we're talking T-Rex sized or maybe even larger) is running rampant outside. Celebrity casts come and go as the four learn they aren't the only ones from the party to survive. Danny McBride joins the cast for a majority of the rest, but he is "voted off the island", to put it in his own words just before he leaves. The entire theatre was filled with joyful cheers upon Emma Watson busting her way through the window with a firefighter axe. A misunderstanding quickly makes her break Seth Rogan's nose with the end of the axe, steal all the booze in the house, and run outside, never to be seen again.

Emma Watson swinging her axe around like nobody's business.
I enjoyed seeing this pure-comedy film. It was controversial and daring and not modest in the slightest, and maybe that's why I liked it so much. You can tell the actors really enjoyed it. In a way, it was like watching a movie a group of friends put together, because that's exactly what it was. I wouldn't be surprised if Seth Rogan woke up one morning, phoned a friend about this whack idea he had for a movie, and the message just spread and spread until everyone, from Rihanna to all of the Backstreet Boys, had a role in this movie.

I'm not kidding! They really did get together for this shoot.

 Would I recommend it?
Yes. But I would be very selective about to whom I'd suggest see it. I wouldn't recommend seeing it if drug references really bother you, as this movie is filled with them. Also, the movie has some raunchy bits in it that are definitely... stranger... than most films. In spite of that, the movie has a really enjoyable mashup of a cast and they compliment each other very well.

Would I see it again?
I felt like it was one of those movies you'd be satisfied with seeing just once. It's not that I didn't like it-- quite the opposite-- but I feel content.

Movie Review: World War Z



I've been skeptical of the zombie craze that's caught on within the past few years, especially after society was just seeming to recover from the vampire / werewolf scene. Zombie this, zombie that. Not being much of a Brad Pitt nor zombie fan, I nonetheless decided to go see World War Z with some friends. And I did not regret it.

Despite catching the latest showing, beginning at nearly 8:55PM, the theatre was absolutely packed. The six of us had to split up and sit in different sections because there weren't enough seats. After a few pretty awesome-looking previews (add Machete, The Wolverine, and Insidious 2 to the list of movies I need to watch) the movie started.


The movie's opening credits begin with a bunch of tactically filtered, somewhat gory TV documentaries of animals preying on other animals, insects skittering around, making your skin itch, and eating more dead animals, and random clips of news broadcasts informing you about a sudden outbreak of rabies in the human population. The movie then picks up and we find our hero in the form of Brad Pitt and his fictional family in a traffic jam in the middle of a busy city. Everything is neat and dandy until people start panicking and no one will stop screaming long enough to give Brad Pitt a straight answer as to why a police motorcycle just zoomed past and chipped off his car mirror, or why a truck just got thrown across the intersection. Or better yet, why the hell a semi is being catapulted towards the general vicinity of his traffic lane.

I'm not about to spoil the movie, but all in all, it had me at the edge of my seat. The entire theatre would echo in laughter when a zombie would repeatedly smash its face against a wall, and gasp when a zombie came out when you least expect it. Or when the zombies ever so casually form a tidal-wave of a mosh pit to scale over the hundred-something foot wall Israel built to keep them out.

Your typical Justin Bieber concert
My only complaint is hardly a complaint at all; for someone with impaired eyesight such as myself, the shifty camera views made it hard to see what was really going on-- which may have been the intent-- but in one particular scene it was enough for me to be a little bothered by it.

Would I recommend World War Z to someone?
Yes.

Would I watch it again?
Totally. Maybe even buy it when it comes out to own.

Am I going to actually read the book?
We'll see.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Pregnant with a PS4. Five more months until delivery!

Reading more and more about the capabilities is making me impatient. There are so many new features. Some of them I find completely unnecessary, yet convenient, like the nifty new feature that makes the multiplayer switch sides when players sit on different sides of each other.

I heard lots of things concerning old games for the PS1-3. I just hope if anything, it has PS2 or 3 disc playing capabilities, or at least a cloud to repurchase games from.  I think an iTunes Library style PS4 cloud would be really neat. Buy the game once on your account, play it anywhere you log in! Rent games you don't feel like putting down the full price for.

As I preordered, a poster proudly announced Dynasty warriors 8 is being released in English sometime within the next month or so... For the PS3. It'd be rather pointless to release a great, finally-becoming-popular game on a soon-to-be outdated console, wouldn't it?

Other than these concerns, I can't help but notice that Sony completely pulled a Kanye West on XBox One. Seems I'm not the only one who thinks so:

Monday, June 17, 2013

Lu Xun Will Never Have a Girlfriend

Oh, Lu Xun.


Dynasty Warriors / 戦国無双

Am I really going to have to preorder a PS4 after all? I haven't played Dynasty Warriors in years-- four years, to be exact-- but I'm being sucked right back in thanks to all the uproar about Shin Sangoku Musou 8 (Dynasty Warriors) being released in Japan. Since Dynasty Warriors 5, the character designs are becoming more and more elaborate and seem to be catering to RPG fans. I don't know exactly when, but somewhere between 5 and 8, KOEI injected the characters with their own personalities, deeming qualities, and grievances. Whereas I used to view each character simply as a different set of stats and fighting rotations, I can honestly say they have become fleshed-out characters. Heck, I even get a little upset when some of them die in the storyline except Xu Zhu.
Who the fuck is this? Nice hat, dweeb
Oh, it's Lu Xun, six games later.
I am really disappointed to see that Sun Shang Xiang has turned into a moeblob fairy and is still referred to as a tomboy. I think she's too similar to Xiaoqiao (whose name is now apparently one word), and I find her English voice to be hard on the ears. I miss the days when her method of madness was to kick ass using two trash can lids chakrams.

On the left and right, Sun Shang Xiang's better original designs. In the middle, her absolutely ridiculous new design.
 All in all, the big picture still looks great and I truly believe I may buy a PS4 just to see some of these characters in action! I really would like to play as the new characters I've missed since DW5. I can't believe I never got the chance to play as the most popular character!

Wang Yuanji, DW7 (Downloadable Content Outfit)